


Male MC Mystic Messenger: Seven Route

by GhostingOverTheKeys



Series: Male MC Mystic Mesenger [6]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Male Protagonist, learning about oneself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 16:52:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16268396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostingOverTheKeys/pseuds/GhostingOverTheKeys
Summary: This story is connected to my M!MC MM Jumin Route. If you don't want to read all of it maybe just taking a peek at day 1 and 10 will help with the flow of the story.After being pushed off a cliff by a strange man, Zack (the male protagonist), awakes in 707's home. This may be more of a blessing than a curse. He sees himself in Seven and he aims to try and mend what is probably broken beyond repair.





	1. Day 0: The Reset Theory Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 is in my Jumin Route Day 10. You can find it in Day 10 Bad Ending

_The angel is sleeping. To think we needed to break him so much. If only he’d just… stop resisting. Hell seems to have tainted his mind, but soon I will have him. My angel, you are going to give me what I want. I await for you to be in my loving arms in paradise._

It feels hot. Almost as if the world is on fire. Every inch of my skin feels like it’s going to fall off. Every curve of my body feels as if it’s shattered. What is this? Where am I? Is this… hell? 

Zack slowly opened his eyes. He could hear a heart monitor slowly trilling throughout the room, wherever this room was. He raised his arm and winced. He was covered in cuts and bruises, talk about nostalgic. He tried to sit up but his body felt like lead. Without his contacts or glasses the room was nothing but a blurry mess. He could see reds and yellows, some monitors, and a surplus of clothing on the ground. With a grunt he tried to call out, but his voice was caught in his throat. 

His noise seemed to cause a stir. He could hear a computer chair roll backwards violently. The wheels scraped against hardwood floor until it fell harshly against something metal. Then, hurried footsteps ran towards him. He saw a familiar red head looking over him. 

“Oh thank god!” 

Zack squinted his eyes. That was most certainly Seven. He felt like he needed to remember something about him, something important. Shit. What was it? 

“Can you hear me?” Seven leaned closer. 

Zack nodded stiffly. Okay, so he was with Seven but _why?_ He wanted to ask but he couldn’t muster a single word. 

“D-don’t struggle.” He tapped his own throat. “It’s still healing. Do you remember anything? Blink once for yes and two for no…. oh! And three for kind of.” 

Zack blinked three times. 

“Okay… okay good.” From what Zack could tell, it looked like Seven had a million questions running through his mind. The sullen expression he held was not lost on him. He knew Seven couldn’t always be bubbly but, the sullen look just didn’t feel right. It did’t feel like a face Seven should hold. But then again, what did he know? “U-uhm can you move your fingers?” 

Zack tested it. He blinked once. 

“Oh thank god. I-I didn’t quite know what to do. I mean…” He rubbed his tired eyes. “God…” He collapsed next to Zack. “I can’t believe this is happening.” He was muttering to himself. 

What exactly _was_ happening? Zack closed his eyes and tried to recall. He remembered the weeping angels, there were pictures and a safe. Then he went to watch the sunset. There was someone there, someone with white hair and strange mint colored eyes. 

Zack’s body jolted as he felt the sudden sensation of being pushed over the edge of the cliff. 

“You okay!?” Seven bolted up. 

Zack blinked twice. 

“Does it hurt!? Dammit where’s Vanderwood!?” He desperately looked to the door. “Or V?!” 

V, that name did not bring him any form of happiness. The heart monitor sped up as Zack huffed. 

“Calm down. Please.” Seven looked desperate. Despite being such a secret agent, it didn’t seem like Seven could handle stress very well. That wasn’t very surprising to Zack. Based on the room Seven didn’t seem like a person who had to deal with stress around people before. Zack figured he was normally alone when he panicked. That was pretty sad. 

Though he speculated this, he couldn’t calm down. If V were to walk through that door he’d punch him right in the face. All of this was because of his refusal to speak. Zack glared harshly. He lifted his arms and simulated writing. 

“Oh! Yeah!” Seven looked relieved as he ran to a corner in the room. “Here use this old whiteboard.” He handed him a black marker. 

Zack squinted at the faded drawing. It was too people standing next to a starship, the ones you’d see of Star Trek. The two men were looking up at it standing hand in hand. A boyfriend? Or is it like a brother? They both have red hair. And both wore sweaters with the letter S on it. _S.S. Come on Zack what the hell was S.S. again?_

“You can just erase that.” 

Zack flinched at the sound of Seven’s voice. Something about the way he said that didn’t feel right. Whatever this random drawing was, it was important to Seven. It looked like it had been drawn quite some time ago, maybe even a few years ago. The markings were long faded, even if he did erase it the image seemed to be set for eternity. 

It felt wrong to just wipe it away, so Zack wrote around it. 

**I like Enterprise. I have to say that I kinda like Voyager more :)**

He turned it to Seven. Clearly he wasn’t expecting for him to write that as Seven slightly twitched. His lips barely curved into a smile, it was like he was happy yet annoyed by Zack’s message. He most likely wanted the hard questions. 

Zack erased his message. 

**I fell off a cliff right? How did I get here?**

The small smile on Seven’s lips instantly fell. “You… the cliff wasn’t high enough to ki…” he looked away, “to kill you. Just… hurt you.” 

**Why am I here? Why not a hospital?**

“We did have you in a hospital but…” He gritted his teeth. “It… It was the hacker that led me to you.” 

Zack tensed. 

“I was just working when suddenly all of us got a video of you. Someone seemed to be taking it in secret because your back was turned. Suddenly you turn around and it looked like you were talking but there was no sound. The next thing we saw was you getting pushed off the cliff. We…” He trembled at the memory. “We didn’t know what to do. Jumin was… he was livid. When we saw V we were all so confused. The person who was recording panicked and the video was cut off. Then, I alone got a message with the header “You brought this upon yourself”. I… I knew exactly where you were and rushed right over. I was…” He gripped the edges of his jacket. 

Zack tapped the white board. 

**Don’t push yourself.**

“But…” 

Zack shook his head. He got the picture. So, it was Seven who saved him but then, why was he in his house? And where was V? V had been there first. Unless V and that man were connected. Or maybe V gave Zack to Seven? Maybe they rendezvoused? 

He tapped his previous question. 

“Right, the hospital. I _did_ take you to the hospital but then… I just don’t know. We were all with you until visiting hours were over. Jumin was the only one allowed to stay as long as he wanted. He stepped out to take an emergency message I think. He was… he was only gone for just three minutes.” Seven looked off into the distance, his skin paling at the memory. “When he came back you were just… dying. The nurse in your room was killing you! She was injecting you with some blue serum and your body was not reacting to it right. Jumin got her away and she just yelled ‘Set the angel free’ over and over and then… she just jumped out the window.” 

Zack shook. He let out a hoarse “What!?” Although his throat was so sore it didn’t even sound like anything. 

“I just don’t know.” Seven shook his head. “I know all of this because… the hacker sent me another video with the title ‘Found him’. I… It turned out your phone had a tracking device in it. Even though it was dead, because it fell in the creek, the GPS was working just fine. We kept your clothing in the room, we really didn’t think anything of it. It was decided that you’d be brought here. Where it was safer.” 

**Who decided that?**

“V did.” Seven winced. 

The heart monitor sped up. 

“I-I know!! But Jumin agreed too!” 

Zack’s lip snarled, so what if Jumin agreed to it to? He did **not** like this decision. He took a few deep breaths. 

**Then, thank you for taking care of me. But are you okay?**

“Me? What do you mean?” 

**You’ve been trembling this whole time. If you need to sleep then sleep. This side of the bed isn’t**

He let Seven see that before he erased the message, he had ran out of room. 

**taken, so sleep.**

“I need to work.” 

**What good are you to work if you can’t even concentrate**

“I _can_ concentrate. I’ve done this before.” 

**You don’t look stable to me.**

Seven looked a bit irritated. “I can work. I _have_ to work. You almost died! Twice! You think I’m going to waste my time sleeping!?” 

Zack didn’t know what to put. He just looked at the heart monitor. 

Seven breathed out slowly. “I’m going to text everyone that you’re awake. Here.” He quickly ran to his desk and came back with a buzzer. “Press this if you need me.” He tried to smile. 

Zack forced himself to smile back. 

“And this here is a new phone, you can text us through this. It’s an older model so I think that will stop the hacker. I made it myself!” A genuine grin painted his face. 

_Ah, there’s the real Seven._

Zack nodded. **Thank you Seven.**

Zack unlocked the phone Seven gave him and sighed as he opened the app. His hands were shaking when he saw that everyone was there, excluding V but you can always exclude him. 

Noel has entered the chatroom 

Zack swallowed and winced. His throat felt so dry and painful.  

> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Oh! Guys that’s Zack’s new profile!  
>  **Yoosung** ** ☆ ** **:** ZACK! 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Zachary, are you alright?!
> 
> **ZEN:** Oh my god. thank you God thank you! 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Are you safe? 
> 
> **Noel** : yes

He wanted to type more but he felt exhausted. ‘Talking’ with Seven seemed to have used up all his energy. Even moving his fingers just to tap the keys somewhat hurt. Each bit of pressure he put on them felt like he was pressing his fingers into tiny needles. 

> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Zack  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** I just  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** I’m so happy right now
> 
> **ZEN:** Me too. Oh thank God. 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I was worried sick
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** That video… I can’t even get it out of my head
> 
> **ZEN:** I’ve been dreaming of it every night too
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Why  
>  **Jumin Han:** Why were you there?! 
> 
> **Noel:** to find something 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** You left so suddenly
> 
> **Noel:** yes
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Is that the place where you fell through the floor!? 
> 
> **Noel:** yes
> 
> **ZEN:** Whoah what? 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang** : You went there before, got hurt, and then you went back? 
> 
> **Noel:** I was prideful 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Prideful!?  
>  **Jumin Han:** You went back after all of that!  
>  **Jumin Han:** And look what happened!
> 
> **Noel:** I know 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **: I** know it sounds bad guys  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** But maybe nows not the time to be scolding him 
> 
> **Noel:** It’s fine
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah, we can all discuss this later  
>  **ZEN:** Right now, let’s just be happy that he’s even here in this chat with us right now  
>  **ZEN:** And let’s not forget that he’s safe
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Yes. Is everyone else safe as well? 
> 
> ** Yoosung ☆ ** **:** Yeah me and ZEN have a nice security guard 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I am with Mr. Han as well, we’re safe here too
> 
> **ZEN:** We should sound off every hour  
>  **ZEN** : Like send a quick text to the chat 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Yeah! That’d make me feel better  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Is Seven okay Zack? 

_I don’t think he is at all._  

> **Noel:** yes 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Okay good. He rarely comes into the chat at all  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** He’ll just say “Device check” and then leave 
> 
> **ZEN:** He wouldn’t even talk about you.  
>  **ZEN:** He’d just tell us your vitals and then leave 
> 
> **Noel:** He’s very busy 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Yes I hope he’s doing well
> 
> **Noel** : where’s V
> 
> **Jumin Han:** He’s disappeared
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Yeah no surprise there  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** We saw him in the video and he still hasn’t come into the chat!  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** I don’t know what he’s thinking!
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Now, he came in once
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah, he told us that you were being moved to stay with Seven 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** It is for the best. I couldn’t even keep you safe
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Let’s not get into that Mr. Han. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah, you didn’t do anything wrong
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** that nurse would’ve done it anyways. I saw her a lot, she hung around Zack’s room
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** She was just waiting for her opportunity to get to him.
> 
> **ZEN:** Has the police identified her body yet? 
> 
> **Jaeheee Kang:** Yes, that’s why we came into the chat to tell you guys
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Nani Yumeno, a single mother who lost her children during a custody fight. 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Apparently the husband had deemed Nani unfit to raise her children because she was schizophrenic 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** She disappeared shortly after her children were taken away. 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** No one knew where she was for years
> 
> **Jumin Han:** She was also never a registered nurse
> 
> **ZEN** : Damn that’s so creepy 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Seriously!? What is going on!? How did all of this happen?! 
> 
> **ZEN:** I know right? Just a few days ago we were getting ready to have that meeting. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I don’t know. But I will find out
> 
> **Noel:** finding out blindly  
>  **Noel:** Is how you’ll end up like me
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Zack… 
> 
> **Noel** : So I’ll tell you everything 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Yes, please tell us what you’ve uncovered. 
> 
> **Noel:** Firstly, I need all of you to please give me your unbiased attention.  
>  **Noel:** What I’m about to say will make you all upset.  
>  Noel: You especially Yoosung
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** What? 
> 
> **Noel:** Promise me
> 
> **ZEN:** Yes I promise
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Me too
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I want the truth 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Okay. Me too
> 
> **Noel:** Okay, I’ll give you the answers the way I’ve been mapping it out  
>  **Noel:** Rika was embezzling funds for her own side project  
>  **Noel:** Rika stored something at Sunflower Orphanage
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** wait that’s not possible. Rika would never
> 
> **ZEN:** Yoosung, we should just listen. Okay? 
> 
> **Noel:** A woman and a young man know what Rika left behind whatever it was is very important to them  
>  **Noel:** Whether V is associated with these two I don’t know.  
>  **Noel:** Maybe not because they were looking for something there as well  
>  **Noel:** These people are dangerous. The woman hurt the young man out of anger, I think she even blamed him for making her angry. I don’t know what she did but she made him bleed  
>  Noel: I should mention that they also rigged the Orphanage with traps. I think I triggered all of them though

_That’s right. Seven has the sensors from that place. I wonder if he’s had time to look at it?_

> **Noel:** I recovered a safe from that place. Oh, they were mad about that btw  
>  **Noel:** Me and Seven opened the safe and found a journal. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Wait. Seven knew about all of this? 
> 
> **Noel:** Yes. But I made him swear to not tell anyone. Especially not V. It doesn’t matter now I guess 
> 
> **Noel:** If you’re going to get mad at that get mad at me.  
>  **Noel:** I unfairly made Seven do this. He’s a nice guy, he wouldn’t break my promise.  
>  **Noel:** Anyways, I alone read the journal. It was a letter from V to Rika.  
>  Noel: It said he knew about her plans and he’s stolen something from her to stop her from executing it. He also said that he hid it at Sunflower. There was another note inside there
> 
> **Noel:** It said

_It said… what did it say? I followed the note… what was it? What was it!? It’s important I know…_

Zack squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t recall. Whenever he tried to remember he could only feel those hands pushing him over the cliff. 

> **ZEN:** Zack? You okay? 
> 
> **Noel:** I can’t remember  
>  **Noel:** Dammit! 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** It’s  
>  **Jumin Han:** It’s fine  
>  **Jumin Han:** Don’t push yourself and don’t get so angry about this that you go and do something stupid again
> 
> **Noel:** I need to remember though! 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Zachary I swear to god, take a breath and just focus on recovering!  
>  **Jumin Han:** How many times do you have to nearly die for you to get that?! 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Mr. Han, please calm down. You’re going to break that if you don’t
> 
> **Noel:** Okay.
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** This is all so unreal. I don’t know what to think right now.  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Sorry I need a moment. 
> 
> Yoosung ☆ has left the chatroom 
> 
> **ZEN:** I better check on him. He’s in the other room.  
>  **ZEN:** We’re going to just talk about all this okay?  
>  **ZEN:** Zack, please listen to him. No more stunts like this. No more keeping it a secret.
> 
> ZEN has left the chatroom 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Mr. Han, I’m going to clean up the glass. Please keep the cats away from it 
> 
> Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom 
> 
> **Noel:** Sorry 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I can’t even begin to tell you how angry I am
> 
> **Noel: I** ’m sorry 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Just  
>  **Jumin Han:** Just focus on recovering. We’ll take care of this
> 
> **Noel:** Just be safe 
> 
> **Jumin Han** : If only _you_ would follow your own advice  
>  **Jumin Han:** I wish to see you but your location is once again secret  
>  **Jumin Han:** Dammit  
>  **Jumin Han:** I need a moment as well
> 
> Jumin Han has left the chatroom 

Zack put his phone down and sighed. He flexed his fingers to try and iron out the pain. He squinted towards Seven’s direction and felt a deep sadness overcome him. Even though Seven was there, he felt so alone. It reminded him of how going home to Lloyd felt. 

“Tss.” He could only laugh at that. _What a joke of a life._

A part of him… wished he had died from the fall. 

Zack jolted. That thought had never ever crossed his mind before. He bit his lip and closed his eyes. 

_No. No I’m grateful that I’m alive_

**_But what’s there to live for?_ **

Zack bolted up and felt his IV rip out of his skin. “Ugh!” He gripped his head. What were these thoughts? 

The wheels of a chair rolled violently. “Zack?! What’s wrong!?” 

“Nngh!” He shook his head. Even if he could talk he wouldn’t tell Seven what just ran through his mind. 

“J-just lay back down!” 

Zack shook his head. 

_I’m alive and that’s what matters most. What you’ve gone through is bad but it’s okay. You’re here now. Other people have had it worse so there’s no reason for you to get so dark over this. You’re alive and everything is okay._

**_But what’s there to even go back to?_ **

_My family. I have my family._

**_And then?_ **

_Do I need more of a reason?_

**_You’re the one who’s doubting yourself like this._ **

Zack laid back upon Seven’s persistence. “…” _I’m losing it. Talking to myself like this like I’m some kind of loon. So stupid. I can figure this out and then everything will be okay._ He looked over at Seven’s worried face and carefully he pinched the hacker’s cheek. He was certainly real. _Everything will be okay right?_

**~* 2 pm *~**

Seven leaned over as he felt a pain shoot through his lower back. “Dammit.” He needed to get up and stretch, or move around, or was hungry he didn’t know and he didn’t care. _Let my body decompose. I just need to get this done_. He glanced back at Zack as he slept. _His face still all screwed up. He must be having a nightmare._ Seven felt the ghosting warmth of that hug from Zack. That nightmare of those times as a child still haunted him. _Should I… hug him too? No. I’ll just make sure he sleeps and rests. All my time needs to be put on this right now. Still… that face he’s making… It must have been so terrifying. To think you’re just… dying._ Seven shook his head and moved back to his work. _If I just find that piece of garbage then everyone can rest easy. I have to help them._

Seven stood up. He gripped the chair and felt his knees go weak. _Ugh… nows not the time for passing out. Just keep moving. Just keep moving._

 

Zack was in the passenger seat of a car. When he looked at who was driving he saw his tía. She was talking, but what was she saying? Zack reached for her and felt something wet and fleshy. “Noel.” She looked over at him. “Do you want to hear the story of why I died?” 

Zack shook his head. He could see in the reflection of the window that he was back to being 10. He really didn’t want to hear it. 

“Everyday I wanted to talk to someone… just someone.” 

_Stop it! Stop it! I don’t want to hear it!_

“But you can’t talk to others Noel. You can’t. People have their own lives too. They’re not just a pair of ears. You have to be careful who you talk to. Because… you don’t want to drive them into a wall.” 

_No! It’s not my fault!_

“That night, when you looked at me and said how happy you felt to be with your family. You didn’t even think of my feelings.” 

_Stop! I didn’t know!_

“You didn’t even consider **me**!” 

_I was just talking. What’s wrong with talking!?_

His aunts voice turned into multiple voices of his past. It was as if Legion was talking to him. For they are many. “Who gave you the right to talk as if your problems were even problems!?” 

_What is this? Why!? Who talks to a child like this!? We have to talk, we have to sort out our feelings!_

“Well! Look at what your careless, selfish, ways did to me!” She turned to him. Her face was just… open. A bloom of flesh exploded from smashing her face to the wheel. 

_I didn’t do this. I didn’t do this._

Zack covered his eyes and curled himself into a ball. _No no no no no no._ He could hear it, the semi was coming to kill them. _Nononononononono it wasn’t my fault. Right? Did I do this to her?_

He looked up and saw he was at Sunflower. He stood up slowly and looked around. The orphanage towered above him trying to drag him in. 

_Angel. I’ve come for you._

Zack felt the ground crumbling from under him. 

_Angel. I’ve come for you._

He reached out desperately. Footsteps rushed toward him and shoved him. He was falling. Falling. Falling. 

_Well! Look at what your careless, selfish, ways did to me!_

 

     Zack slowly opened his eyes. What a stupid dream. He was over that, he knew he didn’t say the wrong thing to his tia. He didn’t drive her to her death. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to see his glasses. Thank god, now he can finally see. He sat up and tested his arms and legs. Well his left leg was broken and his right arm was sprained. It was fine though. He’d heal. 

Zack wanted to go over to Seven but… well he couldn’t move right now. He wanted to speak and just check on him, but he couldn’t. And he knew he shouldn’t. It was so quiet in here. So different from last time. He felt like he didn’t belong. Like he was in the way. And all he could do was sit in that bed and watch. 

Alone. 

With his thoughts. 

And the pain. 

And the memories. 

 

**~* 3 pm *~**

> **ZEN:** So I wanted to get more beer  
>  **ZEN:** But that security guard won’t let me go! 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** It’s cuz it’s the peak shopping time. 
> 
> **ZEN:** What? 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** That’s what he told me  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** He said it makes it harder for him to watch us if we go out in the peak shopping time 
> 
> **ZEN:** Why didn’t you tell me this earlier? 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** I was playing LOLOL 
> 
> **ZEN:** I allowed you to play but if you’re going to play it _this_ much. I’m tearing out the cable. 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** I was just trying to wind down. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Don’t blame you 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Whatchya doin Zack? 
> 
> **Noel:** Nothing  
>  **Noel:** I was tired of thinking so I just popped in. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Good! Come talk with us. 
> 
> **Noel:** I don’t feel good
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** T_T don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll recover soon! 
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah, after this is over we all need to go out and celebrate. 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** That would be a lot of fun! 
> 
> **ZEN:** For sure. 

Zack lowered his phone and sighed. He didn’t really feel like texting. He wanted to move. To at least take a walk and do something. Maybe just remind himself of the world he lived in. Maybe some people don’t like this place, but walking in nature always reminded him of a beauty that he could never describe. 

_It’s not like I’ve done that lately_. 

He just… wanted to. Be there with nature and take in everything. Sit on the dirt and drag his fingers through and just enjoy. To feel and to escape, that’s what he wanted. 

> **ZEN:** Exactly, that’s why I have to practice!  
>  **ZEN:** If you’re going to take a break at least help my acting! 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** I guess I could
> 
> **ZEN:** Good. I have a wig for you
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** What’s my role? 
> 
> **ZEN:** You’re my love interest 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** No thanks. I’m good
> 
> **ZEN:** It’s nothing weird!  
>  **ZEN:** I’m just saving you! 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** No
> 
> **ZEN:** You’re perfect for the role  
>  **ZEN:** You’ll look so pretty! 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** …  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** You’re just saying that… 
> 
> **ZEN:** Nope. Really you’ll be great!  
>  **ZEN:** Even better than Seven’s crossdressing 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Really?  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Okay!  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** I’ll do it! 

_They’re in the same house yet they’re texting. I… want to talk. No…. I have nothing to say. But… I just want…_

Zack sighed. He felt a little off. He’d get over it. 

> **Noel:** You’ll do good
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Thanks! 
> 
> **Noel:** I’m going to go
> 
> **ZEN:** Aww already? 
> 
> **Noel:** Yeah sorry. Bye

Zack pressed his head into the pillows and plugged his phone in. He felt really bored. He looked around and picked up the white board. He drew little giraffes with stick legs, some horses with stick legs, stick people, a little here and there. That entertained him for a hot minute but… 

“Hey.” Seven looked over at him. “I…” 

Zack furrowed his brows. Seven looked like death, what the hell? 

“I… dammit what was I going to say?” He turned back to typing. 

Hopefully he was going to say ‘do you want dinner’ because he was starting to feel a bit peckish. The door opened and in walked some dude with brown hair. 

“Here.” The random man said rather rudely. “I can’t believe you’ve had me go around buying medicine for hi-“ He froze as he saw Zack staring right at him. “What?” 

Zack didn’t break eye contact. He wasn’t really thinking as he stared at him, just observing. 

“He’s awake?” 

“Obviously.” Seven looked back. “Just… put the stuff there and check that for me.” 

“Tsk. Fine. You better be doing your other work too.” 

“I am. I swear.” 

“Good.” The stranger walked up to Zack and injected something into his IV bag. “Nutrients.” 

Zack just nodded. **Thanks.**

The man walked off. _Guess I won’t be getting his name any time soon._ Seven shot up and clapped his hands together. “Right!” He walked over to Zack. “Here.” He handed him some pills. “I nearly forgot.” 

**What’s it for?**

“Pain meds.” 

**When can I get off of this? When can I leave?**

“Leave? Are you kidding me?” Seven shook his head. “There are some weirdos trying to _kill you._ Are you always this stubborn?” 

Zack lowered his gaze. **No. I just feel a bit stir crazy**

“Well I’m sorry but you have to deal with it.” Seven turned, apparently too fast, and swayed. 

“Seh-vehn?” Zack croaked. 

“I’m fine…” 

“You better be.” The brown haired guy stepped forward. “Here, energy drink.” 

“Right. Thanks.” 

Zack furrowed his brows. _What the hell?_

“I just need to make sure that I’ve put that thing on…” Seven muttered and downed the drink. 

Zack’s eye twitched. “Guh…” He felt his stomach grumble. _How long have I been out? How many days has it been?_ He looked at the phone. Four. It’s been four days. He closed his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. “No…” 

“What’s that?” Seven looked back. 

“I… don’t…know.” Zack blinked. “I feel… so…” He closed his eyes. _Nothing._ “Please…” **Take care of yourself.**

Seven looked down and said nothing. He just turned away. “Okay so you’re good?” How can you tell if you keep your back turned to me? Zack reached out and pressed his fingers to Seven’s arm. Seven pulled away and sighed. “I’ll take that as a yes.” 

The day continued like this. Silence. It was nothing but silence. He could hear ringing in his ears as he stared at the phone. It was like he was a doll. Just sitting there staring and watching. No one talked to him. Rarely did they acknowledge him. He felt… 

Alone. 

With his thoughts. 

And the pain. 

And the memories. 

 


	2. Day 1: Him First, Me Later

**~* 8 am *~**

There is a time in your life when you see something and you want to protect it. Maybe you see a lost puppy, someone getting bullied, a butterfly that was drowning in a pool, a tiny inch worm, no matter what it is all your worries, your pain, your doubts fly out the window. Your sole purpose, you feel like, is to help this thing or person with everything you’ve got. Maybe you can call that love, any type of love, or maybe you just feel sorry for them. 

Zack couldn’t tell which. He just knew that he wanted to protect this person the moment he opened his eyes the next morning. The night before he had been feeling horrible, useless, and broken. He woke up feeling that way as well. Wallowing in his sessile state as he listened to the heart monitor. Poor helpless me. He kept thinking. But that all changed when he heard one simple sound. 

He watched as Seven ran around the room. He’d grab cables, HBC, sodas, Zack’s medicine, and some more IV bags every hour. And each time he got up he would sway and run into the walls. But the one thing that shot all his sorrows on himself out the window was when Seven fell down his stairs. A sort of whimper of pain came from the corner of the room at around midnight and Seven didn’t get up for quite a long time. So long in fact, that Zack got worried. He tried to move but with a sprained arm and a broken leg, with no crutches in sight, he found that he was having difficulty to come to his rescue. And it was clear Seven didn’t want him to come to his rescue. In fact the two barely even talked. No matter how many times he tried to get Seven to acknowledge that he was indeed there, he was ignored. 

Normally, for someone who was sensitive to that treatment and overanalyzed every encounter, that attitude would have really bothered him. But seeing Seven through everything out the window. It’s that feeling when you see something in need of help and you know that you can help it. He saw himself in Seven, maybe to a different extreme, but he saw it. Right now Seven was back at his desk, hunched over with one hand in his hair gripping it every now and then in complete stress. He was going to break. 

Zack pressed his good hand to his face and closed his dry eyes. That sound from Seven still resonated in his mind, he couldn’t let that happen again. He glanced over at Seven and that random brown haired guy as they muttered to each other about work or something. Right now he couldn’t do much for Seven, but he knew he could start making his efforts. Cleaning up around him, changing on his own (thank god), and being able to take his medicine when needed. It wasn’t much but it seemed to hep Seven just a sliver. If anything, he wanted to be a good guest. It felt funny that he worried about these little things despite what happened to him. Or maybe that was just basic human decency. 

Zack lowered his gaze back to his phone and opened the RFA app. This phone didn’t have anything else on it. No videos, no music, no little games, nothing. Seven had off-handedly mentioned, not to him directly but in the chats if he scrolled back enough, that the phone was modified and protected by some crazy anti-virus software that Seven himself made. For safety reasons he couldn’t use anything, not that he could try, all the apps like YouTube or even the App store was gone. 

> **Jumin Han:** Zachary, you’re here. Or should I call you Noel? 
> 
> **Noel:** Don’t. I’ve been trying to change it but I can’t
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I see.  
>  **Jumin Han:** It’s very quiet without you here. Butty ran off the day you went to the hospital but apparently he’s hanging around Pure Joy again. 
> 
> **Noel:** Oh, that’s good. I’m happy he’s safe.  
>  **Noel:** How are you doing? 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I’m doing  
>  **Jumin Han:** I’m doing fine  
>  **Jumin Han:** We can’t visit you
> 
> **Noel:** Yeah I know
> 
> **Jumin Han:** It’s extremely frustrating.  
>  **Jumin Han:** And how are you doing? 
> 
> **Noel:** Good. Just tired. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Are you recovering?  
>  **Jumin Han:** Are you safe? 
> 
> **Noel:** Yes and yes 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Good.  
>  **Jumin Han:** I am so frustrated that I couldn’t keep you safe. 
> 
> **Noel:** It wasn’t your job to
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I shouldn’t have drank  
>  **Jumin Han:** I could have stopped you
> 
> **Noel:** Don’t do this  
>  **Noel:** I did this to myself.  
>  **Noel:** I really don’t want to talk about that right now.
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Damn  
>  **Jumin Han:** I can’t believe this  
>  **Jumin Han:** You not being here is driving me crazy
> 
> **Noel:** What?  
>  **Noel:** Calm down. It’s going to be okay Jumin

_What was with him? I understand being upset about the situation but going crazy with me not being there?_  

> **Jumin Han:** Those women keep coming back  
>  **Jumin Han:** And I must listen to them accusing Assistant Kang of trying to seduce me
> 
> **Noel:** Yikes  
>  **Noel:** Poor Jaehee  
>  **Noel:** Why don’t you call me next time, get you both in the clear?  
>  **Noel:** I really want to talk to someone about anything.
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Perhaps I will.  
>  **Jumin Han:** No.  
>  **Jumin Han:** I will.  
>  **Jumin Han:** Soon. Please let me know when your throat feels better.
> 
> **Noel:** I will. I don’t mind listening to you talk even if I can’t. I like your voice 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Well, I feel the same way 
> 
> **Noel:** Thanks
> 
> **Jumin Han:** What have you been doing? 
> 
> **Noel:** I sleep.
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I hope Seven is taking good care of you. 

Zack glanced at Seven. _He is and I’m about to return the favor._

 

> **Noel:** Yeah :) 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** That’s good  
>  **Jumin Han:** We may never get to see you
> 
> **Noel:** What? 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Until this is resolved we may never get to see you. Or go back to our normal lives for that matter. 
> 
> **Noel:** Oh
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I am having my best team gathered in order to help Seven. We shall resolve this. I **will** make sure that we can live our comfortable lives again. 
> 
> **Noel:** Thanks Jumin. I’m going to try and wrack my brain for anything that I might’ve forgotten or missed. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Thank you.  
>  **Jumin Han:** Please let me know when you’re ready to talk on the phone. 
> 
> **Noel:** Thanks. I will 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Though we are not allowed to leave the house right now, I need to go back and do my work.  
>  **Jumin Han:** Good day and please, recover. 
> 
> **Noel:** Yeah! You can do it. Give Jaehee my thanks and my regards. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Yes. Thank you
> 
> **Noel:** Ya 

Zack closed his phone and sighed. That killed five minutes. He decided he’d do his part in helping everyone and try to remember these past fourteen days as best he could. He searched around him and grabbed the whiteboard along with a sharpie near some crumbled pieces of sticky notes. He flipped the board over, being extra careful to not let the drawing drag along his legs, and began to map out everything.

  * ******Rika** — Really dead? — Mentions of Savior or being Savior? — Is there some copycat?
  * ******Embezzlement** — ran off with money or used it for other purpose? 
  * ******White haired man** — something is familiar about him. Mentions of Angel which is in line with Savior. Religious undertones? 
  * ******V** — hiding Rika’s truth, always missing, pulling strings on RFA from background? but why? 
  * ******RFA** — app given to me by a guy who promised paradise, paradise is mentioned from Rika. Connection? RFA hiding something? None seem like they’re in some cult/religious agenda



Zack tapped the bottom of the sharpie on his lips. What did all of this mean? He flipped the whiteboard over and stared at the drawing of S.S. brothers staring up at the starship. He looked at it for a long while. Something needed to click. 

_That one seems like a heroin baby._

He gasped and coughed. Seven and that other guy looked back. 

“You okay?” Seven looked god awful. 

Zack just nodded. 

“Okay.” He turned back. 

He needed to solve this, and quickly. Seven wouldn’t last much longer. He pressed the sharpie cap into his forehead and thought back to the orphanage. He was there, he could feel dirt in his hands, he’s digging. He touches something metal. He can’t feel it, it’s there but he can’t grasp it. 

Quickly he grabbed the glass cup of cold water on the nightstand and closed his eyes. He let his fingers drag against the droplet of water, it was raining that day. Sprinkling. He reached up and unscrews the cap. He feels paper, no, it’s slick. It feels like a Polaroid. He drags the photos up and looks down at them. A woman, he sees a woman looking out of her mind. He sees a nurse, she’s holding something. Zack squeezed his eyes tighter. What is the nurse holding? 

“Fssh.” He can’t get it. He puts the water glass back and pressed the sharpie harder into his left temple. It has to be something, it’s a nurse. She was holding… He exhales slowly. He can’t get it. Maybe if he had a piece of paper? He reached over and grabs the sticky note and carefully unfolds it. It’s a normal to-do list, probably Seven’s, but it doesn’t spark an interest in him. He turns the paper over and draws a very rough sketch of the woman in the bed, the nurse in the middle and… He taps his pen against his cheek. 

“Babies.” The word comes out strangled and dry.

Yes, that’s right. It was two babies. But what was the significance of them? There were two babies and a drug addicted mother. What of them? He tapped the pen harder against his cheek. There were words on the back but what was it? 

“Hey.” That brown haired guy walked up to him. “Stop fidgeting, I need to change this.” He taps the I.V. tube. “We don’t have all the equipment so you have to deal with this.” 

Zack nodded and turned over his arm. He crushed his drawing in his hand, he didn’t want to show it to this guy. 

The man sighs and gently pulls out the I.V. “I’m going to start lowering your doses.” 

Probably for the best. Each new dose made him drowsy and a little high and he certainly didn’t want to get addicted to it. “Seven?” He croaked out. 

“Is busy. He’s got a job to do.” 

“Job?” 

The brown haired guy shrugged. “It’s not like you need to know.” 

“Who?” It hurt to talk this much but he wanted to know. 

Brown haired guy sighed. “Does it really matter?” 

_Fine, then I’ll call you Leo._ Zack sat up taller. He grabbed the white board and wrote out: **I need to move.**

“Ugh… the restroom? Tsk. Dammit. Fine.” He grumbled something else under his breath. 

**Well yes, there’s that. But if I want to recover I need to move.** Wipe clean. **Like physical therapy. I can’t stay stationary forever.**

Leo looks a little annoyed. It seems he just remembered that too. “Okay, in about an hour I need to leave, he can take a break and you can wander around the house.” And that was that. 

_Oh goodie, I can walk around this one room. Yay… But if Seven can take a break then it’s worth it._

**~* 1 Hour Later *~**

Well, it had felt like an eternity, but he was excited to get up and move around. He could feel the ache in his muscles as he carefully lifted himself out of the bed. He grabbed the crutches that had been left for him near the edge of the bed and pulled himself up to standing position. He had to do this about three times before he felt stable enough to stand and move around. He moved towards the restroom and looked into the mirror. “Oh.” 

Out of all the times he’s stared at his face up until this point none of them could compare to this. Gaunt. Sickly. Knocking on death’s door it seemed like. His cheeks were slightly sunken in, his eyes dark and almost lifeless, his lips were chapped, and his hair look dry and dull. Was it really just four days that he was out? Or was it that stuff the nurse put in him? 

It didn’t matter anymore, he figured. He gripped the sink as a crutch and did a few minor exercises to stretch his back and work his glutes, a little hard with the leg cast but it was helping. He struggled here and there and more times than not did he feel like giving up from the pain but… Seven needed him. That’s what he kept telling himself. _Seven needs me_. And for once in a long while he knew exactly what Seven needed him for, even if the hacker didn’t know it himself. 

He did this for a couple of minutes and then leaned his hips against the sink and started to circle his arms. Being stationary for so long had really weakened him. 

“Zack!? ZACK!?” 

“I’m here.” He poked his head out. Goodness, Seven really looked panicked. Where did he think he’d ran off too? 

“Oh thank god.” Seven stumbles towards the restroom. “What are you doing? When did you get up?!” 

“C-calm.” It hurt too much, his throat felt like sandpaper. He carefully put a hand on Seven’s shoulder and smiled. “Calm.” He turned back and rolled his shoulders. “Shower. You rest.” 

“Rest?” Seven scoffed. 

“Rest.” Zack made sure to say it more forcefully. “You did good. Rest.” 

“Did good? Are you kidding me?” 

_Ah, so it was going to be like that was it?_ He struggled to take off his shirt. Seven helped him and looked about ready to cry. Or pass out, really it could be either one at this point. “Look at this.” He lightly touches the scars of the fall. “Dammit.” 

“Alive.” He takes Seven’s hand and smiles. “Okay? Rest.” _Please don’t make me say it again. My throat hurts._ He patted his head and tried to give his most reassuring smile. He would have to trust the fact that Seven would do as he said while he entered the shower. 

Easy peasy lemon squeezey. It took some maneuvering to get out of his sweats and the boxers were a whole other story but he did get naked. Yippee, he got a good look at the damage of the fall. Surprisingly, to him, it wasn’t that bad. When the water hit he slightly flinched, a short flashback of hitting the creek came into mind. The _thud_ and _splash_ rang in his ears. Zack steadied himself against the shower wall and took in a deep breath. Never mind that right now. 

What wasn’t so easy peasy lemon squeezey was the fact that Seven was back at his desk typing. He was visibly shaking when he reached for his soda. This was getting ridiculous. He took his time getting dressed into something loose before crutching his way to the edge of Seven’s work area. “Rest.” 

“Working.” 

“Dammit Seven.” He coughed. 

“You go rest.” 

“Rest with me.” 

“No.” 

“Seven.” He coughed some more. “Argh.” He needed water. Fine, if that stubborn red-head wasn’t going to listen to him the least he could do was make something that _wasn’t_ chips and sodas. Was Seven doing this for four days straight? Perhaps even more? That wasn’t even a question he needed answered. 

“Where are you go- tsk.” It was apparently too much of an effort to chase after Zack right now. Which was pretty good for him, he didn’t need to be dragged back to the bed and hooked up to all the machines again. 

Once again the kitchen was barren save for those damn chips and sodas. By the grace of the gods there was a bit of milk, a banana, and peanut butter and all of it wasn’t expired. He could make him a smoothie. The peanut butter and banana at least had a good boost in proteins, what’s more is the banana had potassium which would help Seven’s muscles and joints, at least there was that. Honestly he was concerned on Seven’s dental hygiene right now. Surely those teeth of his would fall out at the sight of vegetables. Or anything else healthy for him. 

He was able to find a blender, it was crappy but it worked, and a bit of ice cubes had been left in the tray would thicken the consistency of the smoothie. He looked back and was grateful that Seven got up to go get something in the garage, or whatever was out that door. (He never got to explore the entirety of the house before). The moment Seven left, he flipped the switch on and presto. The machine sounded like metal gears crushing up bone and it honestly made him cringe. But at least he was able to make the literal best thing for Seven right now. He took a sip to taste the flavor and felt his stomach growl. Oh right, he hadn’t eaten at all in such a long time. He was really hungry. 

No. 

Seven first. Him later. 

“Wha- what’s that?” Seven blinked slowly and yawned as he walked back in with a black computer bag. 

Zack turned around and shoved the cup into Seven’s hands. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer, and to prove his point, he walked off without looking back. 

“Ah but… Th…” He could hear the sound of swallowing. “Thanks.” 

“Mmhmm.” He sat on the edge of the bed and stretched out his legs. “Good for you.” He cleared his throat and winced. Seven sat at the dining table a few feet across from the bed. He took another sip. Luckily, with the ice, it forced him to drink it slower lest he get brain freeze. Good, he would savor it more. “Rest?” Zack cleared his throat again and patted the bed. “You’re going to rest right?” 

“ _This_ is my break. I’ll drink this and go back to work.” 

Zack fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Nap. You need a nap.” Ten hours of sleep would be more ideal but he knew Seven would never settle for that. 

“No.” 

Zack couldn’t hide his sigh. “Just for ten minutes?” 

“No.” 

“Please?” 

“Zack, come on. You need to rest. I need to work. That’s what-“ 

“Please?” He looked at him with puppy dog eyes. 

Seven slightly jumped. “A-ah wh-what is that?” 

“Please rest?” 

> Badadadum! Hidden talent discovered: the Perfect Guilt Trip Face! A craft the young Zack had learned since he was a child. Order your own sad Zack now and no one will be able to say no to you! Just pay $19.99 + S&H! *Warning may come with an unusual amount of angst. 

“I can’t. St-stop giving me that look!” He tried to look away but he could feel those sad eyes on him. “Zack! Ugh!” 

Zack looked down at the floor and brought his hand to his mouth to hide his lip quiver, _think of poor pitiful puppies, little sad puppies who want a home, they just…want…a h-home_ , “Just ten minutes?” 

“But the hacker!” 

“But…” He couldn’t argue right now. **No**. He had to talk to him. Seven first, him later. He could take a cough drop later if it hurt that bad. “But what will happ-eghn if you pass out?!” He fought back the cough. He could feel his throat and lungs tingle in a desperate urge to hack up anything. “Please!” Lip quiver, sad eyes, and repeat. 

“I won’t! I’ve done this before so I know I’ll be fine.” 

“Ten minutes. It’s all I ask!” He could feel tears brimming in his eyes. They only appeared from the pain in his throat and the urge to cough, but it seemed to shake Seven enough for him to start considering his offer. “I won’t even sleep.” He let the tears fall, god they stung like hell. If it was selling his plea he could deal with it. “I’ll make sure it’s ten minutes. I swear. Cross my heart and hope to die or stick a needle in my eye.” He crossed his heart. “I swear. Ten minutes. And if there’s an emergency I’ll wake you up right away.” 

Seven looked completely conflicted. It seemed even he couldn’t keep lying to himself that he’d be okay. 

Zack swallowed down the urges desperately. _Come on Seven. Throw me a bone here._

“T-Ten minutes. And no more.” 

“I swear.” 

“M-maybe twenty minutes.” He bit the bottom of his lip. 

_Yes! Score!!_ “I promise. I’ll have a timer on and I’ll watch the clock like a hawk.” 

“O-okay. Okay.” 

Zack sprang up, _damn that hurts,_ and fixed the bed up. He shoved all the dumb medical things aside and got the fresher pillows. He fluffed the pillows and pulled off the comforter and bedsheet. He knew where the extra blankets were from his last visit and picked out the nicest one he could find. 

“Y-your sure are going all out.” 

Well, he couldn’t change the whole bed but this would do. He grabbed his little boxy phone and stared at the time. Seven hesitantly got into the bed and laid down. He visibly relaxed and the look of bliss on his face was enough to make Zack internally cry for him. Poor guy. It didn’t even take a minute for Seven to fall asleep. 

Zack kept to his word and eyed his phone, the oven timer, and even the little analog clock on the wall. Twenty minutes. He wish he could make it more but if he betrayed his promise Seven would never do this again. Maybe he could get him to sleep for twenty minutes every three hours. Or better yet every hour.

He sat at the dining table and panted. Boy, such simple tasks really wore him out. He felt light-headed from all of that. With ashake of his head he kept his eyes on the clock and spun his phone on the table. He was getting drowsy. Seven first, then him. Maybe he could find a better meal. Hopefully that Leo guy won’t come back for a while. Who even was he? 

Tired as he was Zack stood up and quietly raided the pantry. Beans and some old tuna, which smelled beyond awful. Bean patties? Egh that did’t sound that good. Damn if only the phone he had connected to the internet. Oh well, he’d have to do things the old fashioned way. 

Beans.   
An egg  
And one slice of bread.

Yeah… what on earth could he do? The flour and supplies he once used for the pancakes were gone, maybe Seven tossed them? Or maybe that Leo guy did? “Mm.” Deep in the back of the refrigerator he found some butter. A lame egg sandwich is what he’d make. He’d save the canned beans for something else. 

He eyed the clock. All that looking took 15 minutes. He could fluff up the egg and by the time he’d be done, Seven would be able to have a _sort of_ proper meal. 

** *~*  **

Zack shook Seven’s shoulder lightly. “Hey… Seven?…Luciel?” He nearly got smacked in the nose when Seven shot up. “Ah!” Zack leaned back. “I-it’s been twenty minutes.” 

Seven just stared at the clock glassy eyed. “Mngh.” 

“I’m making you a better meal.” Zack muttered. He’d check on him in a second, make sure he doesn’t fall back asleep. He figured if Seven _did_ fall back asleep and wake up later he wouldn’t take a cheeky: _Well I_ ** _did_** _wake you up at exactly twenty minutes. You never said anything about going back to bed._ That’d probably be a bad idea. 

“Ungh.” Seven sat up and rubbed his eyes. It seemed his brain hadn’t quite loaded yet.

Zack chuckled and fixed Seven’s glasses with a smile before turning his attention back to the stove. Once the egg was cooked—he managed to flavor it with a bit of salt and pepper— he toasted the bread on the stove (no toaster) and cut it into two triangles. It was a half sandwich but at least it made it look like more than it was. He carefully balanced the plate in his sprained arm, _Seven needs me_ , and shakily moved to the dining table using his good arm to crutch his way over. 

“…Wh…what hey!” Seven got up. “Ask for help! What if it broke and you got all cut up?” 

“Shh.” Zack turned his head away. “Your yelling is hurting my ears.” His voice sounded awful, like he was gargling gravel and sand. 

Seven took a moment to register what he was hearing before he quickly sprang to the bathroom. “I got all the brands!” He came back with a shopping bag of filled to the brim with cough drops. “U-um this one has a cooling thing, and this one is orange flavored, and this one has herbs, and this one-“ 

Zack put a hand over Seven’s and smiled. He took the cooling one and thanked him. “Eat.” He said as he popped in the cough drop. Holy shit this thing was strong, it was certainly relieving some of the ache. “I hope-“ 

“Stop talking.” Seven gave him a sympathetic smile. “I… thanks.” 

Zack nodded. The smell of the food was making him so hungry. Maybe he’d eat the beans. Feeling a little winded he moved back the bed and sat down. 

“We should get you back on the… tsk, Zack don’t shake your head. Come on.” Seven bit into the food. “Oh…” 

Zack tilted his chin in a _what is it?_ gesture. 

“It’s just… it’s so good.” After he said that Seven nearly inhaled the rest of it. “Thank you so much.” He looked so hurt by those words. “I… let’s get you back on the I.V.” Seven got up, not swaying _as_ much but it was still there, and helped him get into the bed. 

_The bed is still warm._ Zack felt a bit weird for thinking that. “You’re the leader.” He had to give in. Right now he couldn’t be disagreeable, not when even he couldn’t stand for more than five minutes. 

Seven looked down. “You…still want me to be the leader?” 

Zack nodded. 

“But I nearly-“ 

“I nearly killed myself. Not you.” The cough drop clicked against his teeth. “Not you Seven. You’re doing great. You’re doing so much. You did nothing wrong.” He gripped Seven’s wrist. “Understand? I disobeyed orders and did something bad. You did nothing wrong. Nothing.” 

If he was convinced, Zack couldn’t tell. He let Seven put in a new I.V. and took his medicine. Maybe it was because he had nothing in his stomach but the effects were instant. Before he knew it he was out like a light and his body felt numb. The pain of everything went away. With his newfound goal he slept blissfully.

**~* 12 pm 707 POV *~**

Mrs. Vanderwood looked over at Zack as he did some stretches in bed. “Well… he sure is determined to get up and moving.” 

“Yeah.” I sighed as I looked at the computer screens. “I actually am surprised. He seemed so dead yesterday.” 

“Hmph. Hurry up. Once you finish this you’ll only get about a days break before the next case comes in.” 

“I’m hurrying” My hands are cramping so badly, I think I may have carpel tunnel and my knee still hurts. At least the breakfast this morning is holding me over. I haven’t eaten my snacks for four hours. I think that’s a new record. Honestly I was starting to feel sick of it. Maybe I should ask Vanderwood to buy some groceries.

“Babies.” I hear Zack say again. He’s been repeating that word for a while now. Does the guy want kids or something? Seems he has babies on the brain. Honestly I can’t see him as a dad. … Yeah no. Heheh he seems like the type that’s awkward around kids. “Nurses.” Okay maybe he’s hallucinating. 

Vanderwood leans over and sighs once more. Both of us haven’t slept in days, I bet he’s waiting for me to hurry it up so we can both pass out. Still, once I’m done with this I need to add more protection to the RFA and I need to find that hacker. “What’s this?” Vanderwood looks at one of my files. “Tch. Is this the video of him falling off the cliff? I told you to get rid of that.” 

“I know but it shows just a bit of that guy so I need to use it as **some** kind of evidence.” 

Vanderwood rubs his temples. “Fine. Give me a copy of it and I’ll see what I can find out. But **only** after you finish this. The faster you finish this the faster I can look into it.” 

“Thank you!” I can’t stop the shaking of my hands but I feel more motivated than ever. “Uhm… also can you go shopping?” 

“What? I told you I’m not your-“ 

“For him. I haven’t had time to get him soups or food or anything.” 

Vanderwood sighed once again, he’s sighed twenty times today, and nodded. “Fine. But only because you’re on house arrest. And you better watch that guy, he looks like a dog who’s longing to jump the fence.” I know what he mean’s, Zack seems really determined to run around. I’m worried that he’ll go and run off to that stupid cursed place again! He said I’m the leader but he’s so wild. Really he’s like a wild, unruly, kitten. The kind that climbs and tears all your drapes but still manages to look cute as they destroy your house. Not that he’s breaking anything (other than himself). 

But… if he hadn’t done anything we would have never drawn out the this hacker. And clearly he’s been watching us for a long time. This guy is a serious threat to us. And what I’m working on is a serious threat to the country. I know that the needs of many outweigh the needs of one but… they’re my friends. I can’t be selfish. I have to get this done and then I can help my friends. And him too. I shouldn’t act on this feeling but having him so close by and all the food he’s making is… 

“Hey, focus.” Vanderwood poked the back of my neck with something metal. “I won’t get those groceries if you keep slacking off.” 

Damn. I didn’t even realize. Ugh it’s so hard to see. Just breathe… Just breathe… 

**~* Zack POV *~**

With his arm stretches done Zack got up slowly and crutched his way back to the kitchen. He didn’t have anything to do and it was starting to get to him again. He couldn’t cook for Seven and he couldn’t remember everything on the files anymore. So what does a person, who has nothing to occupy their mind do? Get cats. 

Jokes. 

He instead decided to clean. Cleaning also kept his mind off the itching feeling in his cast. He seriously did **NOT** want to give in to the feeling. He started at the bed, unfortunately he couldn’t wash the bed sheets but he could fold them and put it aside for later. With new blankets on he patted the bed and smiled, this would surely be more comfortable and better for Seven. 

With each task he completed, Zack had to sit down and catch his breath. “Um…” Seven looked over at him. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m good.” He smiled, voice still gravelly. 

Seven nodded and went back to typing. _He’s shaking again…_ Zack nodded firmly to himself. He got up and once again did his light squats. 

**~* 3 PM *~**

> **Jaehee Kang:** It’s been five days since we’ve received word from the hacker
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** I know, I’m relieved but I’m also really worried. 
> 
> **ZEN:** No kidding. 
> 
> **Noel:** Seven is doing a lot  
>  **Noel:** And we all need to do our parts too
> 
> **Yoosung **☆** : **What should we do? 
> 
> **Noel:** Don’t do anything stupid. Seven’s the leader, let’s follow his rules. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Heh, well I guess we have no other options. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Our cyber security team is nearly finished. Soon most of the pressure will be off his shoulders. 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** We have sworn them to secrecy. Contracts have been written up. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** This will be taken care of with maximum security  
>  **Jumin Han:** I will not allow this idiocy to go on any longer
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** It’s really scary. 
> 
> **ZEN:** I’ll say. Sometimes when I go out I get recognized and it’s really nice  
>  **ZEN:** But now I just want everyone to ignore me. I feel like the hacker is out there watching me. 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** : I know, those gloves he wore in that video. I dunno I keep seeing them in my dreams
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I…  
>  **Jaehee Kang:** The way he looked over the cliff is still in my head. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** We will catch him.  
>  **Jumin Han:** We **will** bring justice. 
> 
> **Noel:** I’ve watched that video
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Zack
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** No Zack
> 
> **ZEN:** Dude seriously
> 
> **Noel:** It’s not like it’s secret  
>  **Noel:** It’s just there in the chat. I watched it a few minutes ago  
>  **Noel:** I remember hearing a voice yell out at him. That guy got really scared.
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah it was V who was there 
> 
> **Noel:** Right I called him to meet me
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I see. I’m surprised he went to see you
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Yeah no joke. He barely comes here at all
> 
> **ZEN:** Let’s not get into that right now  
>  **ZEN:** He helped Zack I’m sure
> 
> **Noel:** Did I have anything on me? 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** No you didn’t 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** You had your phone but it was completely broken
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Oh! And your glasses, they were broken
> 
> **ZEN:** We got the prescription and made new ones.  
>  **ZEN:** Do they work? 
> 
> **Noel:** Thanks, and yeah I can see out of them  
>  **Noel:** Everyone’s safe right? 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Yes. The reports came in an hour ago. Everything is fine
> 
> **ZEN:** It’s a little constricting but I do feel safe. 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Me too :) Me and ZEN are reading over his lines together
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Yes, but I do miss my apartment
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Yeah. It’s fun staying with ZEN and all but I wanna go home
> 
> **ZEN:** I know what you mean. Nothing feels normal lately
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Yes, we will have the hacker caught soon. And then everything can go back to the way it was before that day
> 
> 707 has entered the chatroom 
> 
> **707:** I’m going to update the system. Remember to use the emergency line 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Hi Seven ^_^ 
> 
> **ZEN:** Hey, long time no see
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I hope you’re doing well
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Soon these burdens will be off your shoulders 

Zack looked over at Seven from his seat at the dining table. His eyes barely moved as he read through the chat, it was almost like he was trying not to feel at all. 

> **707:** The systems going to shut down in five minutes. 

Seven’s hand on the mouse moved. 

“Don’t leave yet.” Zack lowered his phone. Seven slightly jolted. “Talk with them for a bit. Tell them how you’re doing.” He popped the cough drop in his mouth. 

“…” 

> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Thanks Seven :) 
> 
> **ZEN:** So, what’s been up with you? Can’t you stay for a bit? 

Seven looked over at Zack for a quick second. 

> **707:** Yeah. Sorry
> 
> **Jumin Han:** How is everything going? 
> 
> **707:** Fine I guess  
>  **707:** Just working
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** While I do appreciate all the work you’re doing, please take care of yourself
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Yeah
> 
> **ZEN:** We don’t want your formal wear to be slipping off of you
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** yeah! Zack’s there now so he can cook up all those good cakes. 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Yes, I do hope we all get to try some later. Mr. Han will not stop mentioning it to me. 
> 
> **Jumin Han** : First I must get _my_ cakes. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Why can’t we all have cakes?  
>  **ZEN:** Stop hogging all the food 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Hahaha Jumin’s just jealous 
> 
> **707:** I want cat pancakes again
> 
> **Noel:** You got it :) 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Must everything be about cats with you three? 
> 
> **Noel:** I’m not obsessed with cats. But I do aim to please 
> 
> **ZEN:** I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. Just seeing it’s shape would make me sneeze 
> 
> **Noel:** You should really see a psychiatrist about that
> 
> **707:** Lol the hidden deep seeded conditioning since he was a child. 
> 
> **Noel:** Seriously. It’s like the psychological experiment they did with a kid and loud noises. 
> 
> **707:** Oh yeah! I think it was towards a rat or a rabbit? I can’t remember
> 
> **ZEN:** what’s this about? 
> 
> **707:** Every time they showed this baby a rat or some animal they’d play a loud noise to scare the kid
> 
> **Noel:** So eventually the baby became scared every time he/she saw that certain animal. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Do you mean? 
> 
> **Noel:** I think your cat thing is totally psychosomatic.  
>  **Noel:** Or you’re just really dramatic
> 
> **707:** It’s probably the drama thing
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** It’s definitely that
> 
> **Jumin Han:** It’s just his jealously towards me and my Elizabeth 
> 
> **ZEN:** Oh please. It’s a real problem! Maybe when I was a kid I was surrounded by cats and was sneezing til I almost died! 
> 
> **707:** Lol sure
> 
> **Noel:** You better dig into those memories of cats
> 
> **ZEN:** No way! Just thinking about cats makes me want to sneeze. 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** I’d say you’re lying but you really do look like it.  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Zen look at me for a second
> 
> **ZEN:** ACHOO! 
> 
> **Noel:** Wat 
> 
> **ZEN:** He keeps repeating the c-word!!!
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** This _is_ weird  
>  **Yoosung** **☆** **:** He is sneezing while he’s typing it out :0 
> 
> **707:** Okay maybe it is psychological
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Yoosung, please stop torturing ZEN  
>  **Jaehee Kang:** ( ＠＾ ◡＾ )
> 
> **Noel:** Speaking of cat’s, Jumin how’s Pure Joy and Butty? 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** My sources say _Muffin_ is back at his nook at Pure Joy. And the couple is doing fine. Although there was a sign saying Business Closing Soon

“What?” Zack tapped his fingers harshly to the phone screen. 

> **Noel:** But why? 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** They’re too old to run the shop anymore. And the husband needs his medical attention
> 
> **Noel:** Oh. 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Don’t you worry Zack. I think it’s for the best :) 
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah, plus you can go visit them and tell them all about the crazy shit you’ve been through. 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I don’t mean to change the subject, but I’ve been wondering. Why the name Noel? 
> 
> **707:** Oh it’s one of his middle names. I’m sure the hacker knows his full name but I just felt nervous on writing it out on here. I needed something to differentiate when I was working on things. And something like Zack or ZACK or whatever other variation is a bit of a pain in the ass when I’m doing things. I decided to just make it easier on myself. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I see, how interesting. 
> 
> **Noel:** That’s fine. But why not use Dominic? I think that one would be better. 
> 
> **707:** I already have it stuck in my head. Once this is over you can change it
> 
> **Noel:** Okay :) 

_Damn. I’ll have to keep looking at that name.  
_ His stomach growled. _Damn I’m so fucking hungry._

> **707:** Thanks :) 
> 
> **Yoosung** **☆** **:** Man having two middle names must make signing documents a pain.
> 
> **Noel:** Yeah heheheh my cousin has three middle names. It’s like Natalie Francesca Guadalupe Noelle Garcia. She gets to choose whatever name she wants that day. 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Another Noel? 
> 
> **Noel:** Yeah. I’m the exception but a lot of the kids on my moms side has Noelle in their name. It’s after my aunt.  
>  **Noel:** So anyways, I better start scouring the kitchen

“U-uhm.” Seven finally got up and walked over to Zack. “That guy, Vanderwood, he’s getting something for us. Well… for you to…cook.” 

“Vanderwood? I feel like Leo is… well whatever.” Zack smiled. “Okay, I’ll make us something.” 

“Sor-sorry to make you cook. I should’ve gotten us take-“ 

“I don’t mind it at all. I want to cook for you.” He patted his arm. 

>   **Jumin Han:** Zack you better be resting and not pushing yourself. 
> 
> **Noel:** I’m not. I’m taking it easy. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** Luciel, make sure he doesn’t push himself. 
> 
> **Noel:** I’m not :) 
> 
> **707:** I know. 
> 
> **Noel:** I’m just helping Seven. 

“Hey, when he comes back with the food, why don’t you take another nap?” Zack looked up at him. 

“I’m doing the maintenance remember?” 

“W-well yeah but… okay. How about when I start cooking you sleep. And when I’m done and dinner is served I’ll wake you up.” 

“O…Okay.” 

_I better choose a recipe that takes about an hour and a half. That might help him._ “Okay. Deal.” 

“Okay.” He turned away, the hints of a relieved smile ghosted over his face. _You can’t hide that from me Seven. I know you’re ready to collapse._ Seven hesitated before he finally sat at the dining table with him. Before Zack could even start talking with him, however, Seven got back up and muttered, “have to work” before heading back to his computer. 

 

> **707:** Okay, it’s time to sign off. The maintenance shouldn’t take long. 

Zack sighed and got up himself. He better start doing more stretches, G _otta help Seven. Gotta help Seven. Gotta help Seven. I’m so tired._ He lowered his gaze. Seven first. Him later. 

**~* 8 PM *~**

He wasn’t sure when _Vanderwood_ dropped off the groceries, but when he got out of the shower there was a plethora of bags everywhere. While he wanted to cook this was a little overwhelming. Some of the bags had fresh vegetables which Seven side-eyed as if it were a roach on the wall, others held some meats, and the rest were baking goods. Well the house was now fully stocked. Overstocked, but stocked. Zack managed to find places for all the food and pulled out what he needed for tonight.

He felt light-headed but that was probably because he was so hungry. He wanted to make a sandwich for himself but first he needed to get Seven to sleep. He had the premonition that if he made himself a sandwich now, Seven would demand one for himself and then he wouldn’t get to rest. Right now he was trying to coax Seven to stop for now and just take a break so he could start the dinner. But his attempts were ending up in failures and Zack was starting to get annoyed. Or more specifically, hangry. 

“Come on Seven.” He gripped his fingers tightly around the handrail. “The system’s been updated and everyone said that it’s working well. Can’t you take a break?” 

“Not yet. Now stop asking.” 

That was the sixth time he was told that. He had been at this for nearly two hours. His stomach growled with each passing minute. He really needed regular food. No more of the stupid medicines and glucose. 

“But-“ 

“It’s 8 right? You need to take your medicine.” 

“No. I said I’d make you dinner and that’s what I’m going to do. Plus, I need to eat too.” 

“What? But you have to…” he trailed off as he stared at his computer and began typing again. 

Seven was a lot of things but Zack was pretty sure he wasn’t a medic. If he was up and running then he needed the food. “Fine.” He couldn’t take it anymore. Using his crutches, which felt as if they were digging into his armpits, he angrily pulled open the cabinet and made a PB&J. He took the first bite and sighed in bliss. Thank god, food. The headache that had been forming was starting to subside and he could feel his irritation start to wane. 

Without even looking over Seven said, “Hey, make me one of those.” 

_Dammit._ “Uh but-“ 

“Thanks.” 

_Damn…_ “But your nap-“ 

“It’s fine.” And that was that. Zack tried to get his attention but all attempts failed. For some reasons the PB&J didn’t taste as good anymore. 

_If I hadn’t been focusing on my hunger I could’ve gotten him to sleep. Dammit!_ Zack bit the bottom of his lip as he angrily made him the sandwich. He needed to think of Seven first. That’s what he had been repeating to himself all day. His grip on the knife tightened and burned into his skin. He decided, if anything, he’d make him two. Seven really needed a bit of meat on his bones, especially now. 

“It’s done.” 

“Okay. Just leave it there.” He rolled his wrists and rubbed his face. “I’ll get it later.” 

“I can bring-“ 

“No you can’t. Just go take your medicine and lie down. You need your rest. That’s on order.” 

Zack sighed. “Roger that.” 

As he laid down on the bed, medicines had been taken, he stared up at the ceiling and sighed. The little glow-in-the-dark stars blinked in the shadows of the room. He felt a little bad. Helping Seven wasn’t his only goal. He worked himself hard for a reason. The more exhausted he was the more he could sleep without thinking about scary things. Things that he shouldn’t think of. Everything would just shut down faster and he could rest until morning where he would repeat it all again. He wanted to go home already. He wanted to be with his parents. 

He wished he had never come here in the first place, then none of this would have happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof finally got this out. I'm so sorry this took so long. First it was lack of motivation, then doubt lolol, then exhaustion, exams, and now I have a group project I'm working on. But whatevs, it's out now. 
> 
> Whoo! I feel a little bad cuz I know the real action of this story won't happen for just a teeny tiny bit more but I hope you all stick with me. I'm just slowly building up this little dynamic they're having together.  
> xoxo Ghosting out!


	3. Day 2 Morning: Conference Call

** ~*7 am*~  **

Mornings were always hard, it took so much effort to even get out bed. A part of it was mentally and the other was the physical pain he was always in. Note to self: don’t fall off cliffs and into streams. Zack slowly sat up and reluctantly took his pain medication. Carefully, he grabbed his crutches and moved towards Seven’s desk. He wasn’t there. Zack yawned and moved over to the kitchen only to trip over something. 

“God! Shit!” Zack’s voice cracked as he cradled his broken leg and punched his good fist into the floor. “Gah! GAH!” He bit his lip and dug his nails into his arm. He looked over what he tripped over and froze. “Oh shit. Seven!” He dragged himself over to him. “Naaghh.” He put his fingers to his neck and felt for a pulse. It appeared he had only passed out. Zack carefully rolled him over and frowned. “Ngh fuck!” It seems the pain in his leg did not care about the status of Seven’s health right now. Zack collapsed next to him and bit his knuckles to hold back the pain. 

After he managed to collect his breathing and fight off the urge to blackout from the excruciating pain, Zack sat up and pulled off the broken glasses off of Seven’s face. “Y-you okay?” He mumbled to the hacker. _Damn you Seven, take care of yourself_. He could scream it into Seven’s face and the stubborn mule still wouldn’t do it. _You trying to die? Damn you…_ Lifting him onto the bed would be impossible. He was too weak to do it. _Dammit. If only I wasn’t a stubborn mule. If I had just dropped this or just asked for help._ He shook his head. _No. If I hadn’t gotten hurt Seven would be here, passed out on the cold floor, alone._ He just wished he didn’t have a broken leg right now. 

Zack carefully brushed the red hair back and shook his head. _Idiot… who am I kidding, we’re both idiots._ He tried to get up but failed. It hurt too much. _It’s been hard for me but I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you. I want to feel sorry for myself but… no, there’s no reason for that. What I’ve been through is nothing compared to your hurt._ He reached over the side of the bed and yanked off the blankets. _Damn, was hoping the pillows would follow._ He carefully covered Seven and winced. _Shit it hurts_. He pulled himself up onto the bed and wiped his brow, his sprained arm now giving him trouble. Grunting in pain, he stretched his hand for his pain meds. He shook the bottle and tossed it aside. _Too risky._ The pain meds already made him drowsy who knows what a double dose would do. Besides, if he fell asleep Seven would probably wake up, take care of Zack, and then go back to work fighting his next blackout only for all of this to repeat again. And what if Seven falls the wrong way? 

Zack covered his mouth and sighed. He best not think of that, all this silence was turning his thoughts dark and the thought of Seven covered in his own blood

Enough. 

He sat up and rubbed his leg, finally the pain in his body was ebbing, if only a little. The only thing he could do was watch over him. He dragged the phone towards him, damn, yet another server maintenance. He leaned back and rubbed his throat. The air conditioner turned on to keep the computers cool, the low hum of machines the only comfort as of now. 

What a prison. 

What a damn prison. 

** ~* 9 am: Seven POV *~  **

My back hurts like hell. My head hurts like hell. I can’t see a damn thing. With a grunt I sit up and feel some kind of fabric rolling off my shoulders. Blankets, I bet it was him. And my glasses broke. I’m running out of spares and I have no time to get more. 

When I finally get to my desk I asses the situation. First I notice Zack is asleep with no blankets. He’s grinding his teeth and humming out some words but I can’t make heads or tails of it. The next thing I see is his crutches at the end of the bed. Maybe he put them there after having to coddle me? I move them back to the end table for him and go back to work. My hands seize up and I feel my arm muscles twitch. 

“Focus body… c’mon.” I plead for what’s left of me to work. I have no time for another shut down. I already slept for three hours, I need to get my head in the game. I know I need sleep, but I need to work on the app more than anything. Perhaps today I can actually get some shut eye, but I don’t know yet. 

Once my spasm finally ends I grab my favorite meal and shudder. It doesn’t feel good going down. I feel as if my body is turning into mush. This isn’t good but I can just take solace into the fact that today’s update will give me time to relax for the rest of the day. Hopefully at least. 

*~* 

It took two hours but I think I’ve covered every nook and cranny. Hopefully all those little cracks in my firewall have been sealed up, so to speak. I smell something good coming from the kitchen. He’s up? When did that happen? 

“Hey, you should be sleeping.” 

He shook his head. 

“How are you even cooking like that?” I look closer and notice he’s shaking a bit. “Zack come on.” He looks back and gives a smile. Damn, he looks awful. His eyes look sunken in and he just looks sickly. Is it that stuff from that crazed nurse? Or have I been neglecting his health? “What are you even cooking?” 

He points to the egg carton on the table. I know if I don’t move now he’ll walk all the way over here, struggling with each step, just to serve me. I don’t understand what he’s trying to do here. I get he wants me to eat but what does he even care? 

Back then and now, he keeps trying to take care of me. I must be a fool to get attached to him so fast. He’s been fun, he doesn’t call me weird, he always plays along, and now he’s taking care of me. I need to do better for him. He’s cooking brunch with a broken leg and a sprained arm for god’s sake. He can’t even talk properly. 

“Let me help.” 

He shakes his head. 

“I’ll set up the table.” 

“Rest.” He croaks. 

“I’m done for today actually.” 

I see his shoulders perk up. The grip on his spatula tightens. “Then rest.” He glances back. I see a bit of a smile on his lips. He turns back and carefully pours the contents of the pan onto a plate. Before he can get to the table I take the plate and set it down before helping him to his seat. 

“It smells really good.” 

His eyes light up. “This,” he slides a bottle of honey towards me, “is good,” he winces when he talks, “with that.” he points at the eggs. “Toast.” 

“Toast? Oh! Y-yeah let me get it.” Honey? Heh, I guess it is my favorite flavor. This guy. I can’t stop what I feel but that doesn’t mean I’ll do anything about it. Still, I’m smiling. I wish he could stay here always. This situation is awful but his presence is just so… 

I let out a sigh and stare at the toast as it starts to brown. I can’t believe this. Vanderwood’s presence doesn’t even phase me. When they’re here I’m just hyper aware of their presence. But with him I know he’s here but I feel at ease. Sure the heart monitor and the sound of his crutches clicking mask my heart squeeze but just him in general is just… calming. 

The toast pops up and nearly gives me a heart attack. I take a moment to calm my nerves before turning back to him. “Toast served.” 

Zack nods and takes a slice. He takes a breath and smothers it in honey. He takes a bite and then another and another, like a ravenous dog. Has he not been eating? “Eat?” 

“Yes. Sorry.” The first bite is bliss for me. Unlike my favorite meal I don’t feel like I’m about to collapse from so much as the taste. The protein from the eggs, the sweet taste of the honey, and is that a bit of cheese in the meal? Thank god I asked Vanderwood to get groceries. I like getting glimpses of the culinary powers of Zack. I think it even rivals Jumin’s chefs.

“Good?” 

“Yeah! Always.” 

He smiles and devours his meal. “Rest. I can clean.” 

“No way. I can wash dishes.” 

He gives me a look. 

“I’ll wash the dishes,” I pick them up before he can, “and then I’ll rest.” 

“Mmm.” He gets up and sits on the bed. 

“You took your pills right?” 

“…mmmhmm.” He clears his throat and winces. 

“Good.” When’s the last time I even did dishes? "I know they suck but you have to.” I run my hands through the heating water. “And you need to stop runnin’ around all over the place. I really like the meals and all but you need to stay in bed.” 

“…tch.” 

“Don’t you _tch_ me!” I look over at him and smirk. He’s got his one arm crossed and looks like a pouty child. “I know you’re bored and a little antsy but you gotta throw me a bone here.” 

“Hmph.” 

“Who knew you were the worst patient ever.” 

“Tsk!” 

“Listen to your nurse.” 

“Hmph, whe-ugh-where’s your nurses outfit?” 

I bite the inside of my cheek. “Heh, so you like things like that?” 

Zack chuckles and shifts around on the bed. “Not really.” His voice is so hoarse I can feel it. He moves around some more. I hear a glass being set down followed by him coughing. He shuffles around and I hear some drawers being closed. 

“What are you doing now?” I say exasperated, I don’t even want to know what that stubborn brat is doing now. 

“Nothing.” He croaks. 

I look back to see him fixing the bed. “Just lay down.” I groan as I run over to him as I wipe my hands on my jeans. “Stop doing all this stuff. You’re never going to get better if you keep running around!” 

“Just, ahem, trying to help.” 

I roll my eyes. “You’d help me if you just lie there and heal. Can you… I mean I’m grateful for the help but can you just stop already?” 

He looks down. 

“You being a stubborn ass is what got you into this situation.” 

“Alright.” He sighs and sits down. “You win.” He winces and rubs his throat. 

I can’t help but shake my head as I hand him his cough drops. “I’ll make tea.” 

“With honey.” 

“Okay, but stop talking already. You’re going to lose your voice at this point.” 

He picks up the whiteboard and wipes his brow looking utterly exhausted. He keeps losing his breath I’ve noticed. But at least he’s finally listening. Maybe later I can take him to the park. Oh but, we’re all on lockdown. Him especially. And it’d be a disaster if they find my house. It’s too risky to even bring over the others to keep him company. Unless… 

*~* 

“I’m going out.” I put on something with muted colors and cover my hair with a beanie. He looks up at me and I can see by the raise of his chest he’s sighing. “I’ll be back soon.” 

He nods and rolls the phone I gave him in his hands. He looks like a child that’s been put in time out. I feel bad that the servers still down but soon he’ll have something to do. “Oh!” I open a locked drawer in my desk. “Here, I forgot I even had this.” I hand him my very first GameBoy. “Here’s some games. Even Tetris.” Zack smiles up at me and holds it carefully. Now that I see it in his hands it does look beat up. I used to love that thing. I would tear it apart and put it back together so many times back when I was a kid. Back when I had to hide the things I brought home to _you_. “Just… just be careful with that. Okay? I… don’t break it.” I almost regret giving it to him. 

He smiles up at me and nods. I watch as he flips over the game and freeze. **S.S.** is painted on the back. His face screws up and he puts his hand to his forehead. He winces and stares at those two letters so intensely that I’m almost afraid that he know something. But that’s impossi-… Sunflower. Did he figure something out there? 

“Do… you know what those letters mean?” 

He rubs his head and nods. My stomach drops and my heart speeds up. He opens his mouth. “Babies…two of them.” 

Oh god. That’s what he was saying last night. “W-W-What about that?” 

He squeezes his eyes tighter. “I… I can’t even remember.” He winces and pops in another cough drop. “But… It seems I had the right idea.” He looks right into my eyes. What!? What does he know!? 

I don’t know why but I back up, fearful and agitated. 

He stares at me. He’s staring right into me. I hate those damn eyes of his. They look into your soul. He’s done it before and I hate it.

I see the words form before he even says it. “So it _is_ connected to you.” And in my mind his voice sounds normal. I can hear past the pain that holds back and hear that voice that is somehow soft yet commanding. “S.S. is in my memories. S.S. is on that board. And now here. Seven or perhaps your real name and someone else. Someone like you.” He winces but he forces himself to continue. “I’ve been dreaming about it. And now I understand, two babies that seemed to have been born on the same day.” I want to cover my ears. What he’s saying means… it means that _he’s_ … V’s been hiding something important. God I knew it… I just didn’t want to accept it. What have I been working towards? Where is _he!?_ No… maybe I’m over- oh god I can’t breathe. Zack watches me as I sit on the bed. The look on his face pisses me off. It’s so calm, so knowing. He knows something… he _knows_ something. I jump when I feel his soft hands touch my wrist. It feels like ice where he touches me, he’s either freezing or I’m heating up in my rage. “We’ll talk about it when you’re ready.” He whispers. 

I don’t want to talk about it. Ever. There’s not supposed to _be_ something to talk about. Everything is supposed to be okay. It could all be a coincidence. Maybe he saw a picture. But… that fact that he even _saw_ a picture. No it’s bad. I don’t know why but it’s bad. “I got… I got to go.” 

“I understand.” He pulls away and holds the gameboy gently. “I’ll be waiting here.” It seems all that talking finally takes its toll. He just leans back against the wall, with his back propped up with pillows, holding one of my keepsakes in his hands. He stares off at one of my turned off monitors. I get up slowly understanding that even if he did know something he couldn’t tell me unless he wrote it down. But since he doesn’t even move towards the white board I guess that means that he doesn’t even know what to make of all of this. I don’t blame him. 

“I’ll be back soon…” 

He nods, doesn’t even look at me as I leave. I dial for V as I get into the car but he doesn’t answer. He must not be back from his trip yet. Dammit… I need to go check on something. 

** ~*~ Zack POV: After Seven Left ~*~  **

Zack slowly stood up and carefully made his way to Seven’s desk. He dragged his hands along the cool metal and slowly opened each drawer. The bottom drawer held empty HBC bags, crushed coke cans, and discarded papers: gross. The second held binders of coding manuals and papers in every language imaginable excluding Korean. The English ones bored him to death and those in Spanish talked of some strange cases on corporations he had never heard of. All in all it wasn’t meant for him. 

Well, in actuality, none of this was meant for him. He looked around and felt his heart speed up in fear of anyone catching him. He glanced around for cameras, and maybe there was but he couldn’t see them, before reaching the drawer he really wanted to see. The one Seven had unlocked and seemed to have forgotten to re-lock it in his state of shock. Zack pulled the handle. Every sense in his body screamed that this was a bad idea. Whatever was in this drawer was special to Seven. 

Zack sighed and pushed the drawer closed.

Despite everything he had done up until this point, he just couldn’t do this to Seven.He carefully headed back to the bed and plugged in the gameboy. 

_Seven may have worried about this situation before but now he looks like he’s about to lose it. I’ve never seen someone get so pale before. S.S. so let’s assume that the first S is Seven and the other belongs to the unknown young man in the drawing, or rather the second baby._ He stared at the faded picture on the whiteboard. _Firstly the picture was found within that safe from V. Whatever the contents were V took them but he decided to leave those pictures behind. If only I could remember what was on them._

He cursed himself for having inconvenient amnesia of that time. But if he were to just see those pictures he’d surely remember. Still, those pictures were probably long gone. Maybe they fell into the stream and were swept away or maybe that man or even V stole them. He doubted he’d ever see them again but that wouldn’t deter him from trying to remember. 

If he even wanted to remember. All of this that he had been through almost didn’t seem worth it. Almost. He opened his phone and looked at the app. It seemed the update had been completed. He could call Jumin or the others, not that he could even speak. 

> **ZEN:** Update is over, thank god
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** I know. I’m bored
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Today feels as if it lasted forever. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Apparently we can’t even leave the house anymore! 
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** It’s the weekend. That’s why. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Can’t go to the store at specific times, can’t leave my damn house when I want to, can’t go to auditions  
>  **ZEN:** I hate this!   
>  **ZEN:** 凸 (` △ ´ ＃ )
> 
> **Noel:** This is my fault
> 
> **Jumin Han:** No Zachary. It isn’t
> 
> **Noel:** Kind of. If I hadn’t been snooping around this wouldn’t have happened
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** 。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。  
>  **Yoosung** **★** **:** You don’t know that  
>  **Yoosung** **★** **:** What if they abducted you? 
> 
> **ZEN:** Or something to that extent. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** That would’t have happened if he just stayed with me. 
> 
> **Noel:** I know 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Right now we don’t need to play the blame game.   
>  **Jaehee Kang:** If none of us have anything to do, let us go over what we know. 
> 
> **ZEN:** We can do a conference call
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** Good thinking. Mr. Rein, are you up to that? 
> 
> **Noel:** Sure, if this phone can do that. 
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** Seven told me about your model and I had that phone in high school. I know a few things about it.   
>  **Yoosung** **★** **:** So to answer your question, yes. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Speaking of, where is Seven? Working hard probably 
> 
> **Noel:** He went for a drive. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** So you’re alone and unsafe? 
> 
> **Noel:** I’m fine. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** But are you safe? 
> 
> **ZEN:** Geez, I’m sure he’s safe. Seven wouldn’t leave him like that. 
> 
> **Jaehee Kang:** I will prepare the conference call
> 
> Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom 
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** I’m excited!
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah no kidding.   
>  **ZEN:** Finally something to do. 
> 
> **Jumin Han:** I shall prepare the files. Please answer right away Zachary. 
> 
> Jumin Han has left the chatroom
> 
> **Noel:** I should’ve mentioned that I can’t talk right now. 
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** What? Why? 
> 
> **ZEN:** Are you okay!? Are you actually in danger?! 
> 
> **Noel:** Yes I’m fine. It’s just that I talked a little too much already and my voice is shot. 
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** Well we’ll be happy to help in any way we can! 
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah, and hopefully you hearing my beautiful voice will make you feel better
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** I recall you telling me that your voice sounds like his exes. Maybe you shouldn’t talk at all.   
>  **ZEN:** Someone has gotten really CHEEKY since he’s moved in here
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** I don’t know what ur talking about.   
>  **Yoosung** **★** **:** I was only being considerate to Zack
> 
> **ZEN:** Oh yeah, you’re soooo nice  
>  **ZEN:** You’re a viper in sheep clothing! 
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** What are you talking about?
> 
> **ZEN:** Ugh forget it
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** Are you talking about that security guard earlier. I only said what was necessary  
>  **Yoosung** **★** **:** she needed to keep her eyes to herself. 
> 
> **ZEN:** It’s not my fault I’m so beautiful 
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** Well it makes me uncomfortable. 
> 
> **ZEN:** Yeah but that look of yours scared the shit out of me! 
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** Maybe you’ve just never seen me being serious before. 
> 
> **ZEN:** If you say so 
> 
> **Yoosung** **★** **:** Jaehee’s ready for us! I’m so excited! 
> 
> **ZEN:** Me too. Okay guys, let’s go! 
> 
> Yoosung ★ has left the chatroom   
>  ZEN has left the chatroom

*~* 

“Let us begin, is everyone on?” Jaehee spoke quietly. A collective yes allowed her to continue. “Well, Mr. Han and I have been going over the files we found in Zack’s possession. We have gone through your decoded documents and have sent the rest to a group of experts. So far, as many of you have been told last night, we have been going through the names, the results we found were shocking to say the least.” 

Zack made a noise that was supposed to simulate inquiry. 

“You okay man?” ZEN’s concern was nice. “Right! Your voice. Sorry.” 

Zack mumbled an okay. 

“Yes, we need to get him up to speed.” Jumin’s voice was always satisfying to his ears. “We ran the names and have discovered that not only are the sunflower names of those who donated to that organization, the names with the eyes have gone missing or are deceased.” 

Zack grunted. 

“We were just as shocked as you.” Yoosung spoke quietly. “Jumin and Jaehee looked into them and they all died in fatal accidents.” 

“And their families are gone too. Well, not all of them but the immediate families. Like the children and the wives and husbands.” ZEN shuffled something in his hand. “And some they don’t know where the missing have gone.” 

Zack clicked onto his phone. 

“He’s asking where they are buried.” Yoosung said. 

“In the cemetery? Mr. Rein what are you asking?” 

“Where are the bodies?” Yoosung read. 

“As I said, in the cemetery. Some were unrecovered, and of course there are those that went missing, but the rest do show certificates of a funeral being held.” 

Jumin asked, “What are you getting at Zachary?”

“He…” Yoosung gasped. “Zack no! That’s insane.” 

“Let me see… Geezus Zack no way. He says we should check.” 

“Zachary. That’s inane.” 

“He says: was it a closed casket funerak?” 

Jaehee typed rapidly. “Y-Yes however-“ 

“Look,” Jumin interrupted, “I understand what you’re getting at but I don’t see how any of it is relevant.” 

“It’s relevant because you all are trying to avoid one thing.” ZEN read. “You all aren’t addressing how odd it is that these people supposedly died with no body accounted for. And that sounds familiar to me.” The call fell silent.

“Z-Zack you can’t be serious.” Yoosung mumbled. “But… you just can’t. What are you implying is happening?” 

Jaehee sighed. “I… It… It does sound plausible. When Rika died none of us saw… we took V’s word for it. And these families could have been bought or blackmailed or perhaps they held a service in their memory.” 

“This is insane!” ZEN opened something that sounded like a can of soda, or beer. “So are you saying Rika is dead or not?” 

He couldn’t answer as this was all just speculation. If she was dead then perhaps V lied about how it happened. If she wasn’t then… well, V lied about what happened. Maybe it was his own vindictive nature but he still antagonized that man. 

He took a moment to think what he wanted to say. Perhaps losing his voice was a blessing in disguise. If he were left to his own free will he’d have said something stupid. Maybe even pop off at everyone and just be the downer of the room. 

_I’ve been a downer regardless._ He sighed through his nose. _I need to watch a damn comedy, get my spirits up._ He typed out his message, after deleting it six times, and popped another cough drop into his mouth. His tongue felt a bit fuzzy from all the medicine but at least it was working. 

“I see.” Jumin shuffled through his papers. “I have to say I agree with you Zachary. He has informed me that we cannot defuse the possibility that the people after us may very well be a force we do not understand. Perhaps they are serial killers or perhaps they are in some kind of religious cult, we don’t know, but the fact that Rika and countless other victims have underwent the same disappearance as her is very strange. Rika has these eyes written all over her files and that does not bode well with our case. Now, a doodle cannot fully connect her to these occurrences but… but I must say I have seen these eyes on her belongings before.” 

“So what!” Yoosung yelled. “Maybe it’s from V! Did you ever consider that?!” 

“I have.” Jumin said cooly. “It could very well be from V. It could from anyone who had access to that apartment.” 

“Are you saying Luciel could have drew them?” Jaehee spoke evenly 

“He does have access to that place.” ZEN mused. “And he loves cryptic messages like this.” 

“Come on, that’s crazy. Seven would never do something like…like this!” Yoosung defended only to falter. “But… we don’t know much about him.” 

“But he’s been there since the beginning. No way would Seven…” 

The call fell silent. Jumin clicked his tongue. “While we may not know much about Luciel or his origins or even what he does as a career we should not start putting doubt in our own members.” 

_And what about V? We seem okay with questioning him. Or maybe they don’t totally consider him a part of this group anymore. Not that I blame them._

“Innocent until proven guilty?” Jaehee asked.

Jumin sighed. “No. I do not want us pointing fingers at everyone. That will be our first mistake. Like all of us,Luciel is in just as much danger.” 

“But Zack said he left, he doesn’t have a body guard with him.” Yoosung mumbled. 

“That may be true but out of all of us Luciel is well versed in hiding in plain sight.” 

“That doesn’t necessarily help his case… but as much as I hate to say it, Trust Fund is right. If we start doubting each other the real culprit will tear us apart. Hell they won’t have to do anything to us, we’ll destroy each other for them.” 

“I agree.” Jaehee typed on her computer. “We do have to take a step back but we must also be aware of each other. There is no doubt that strings have been pulled behind all our backs. And yes, some of us know more than others, but we must also trust each other. We are all we have in this dire situation.” 

“Well said Assistant Kang. We are all paired up watching each other’s backs as well as observing each other. We won’t be able to avoid suspicions over each other but we cannot act on our emotions. Things like this must be taken seriously and meticulously. Does everyone understand?” There was a collective yes. “We shall send everyone a PDF of the files, I want everyone in the now on all of this. No person will be left out. Does everyone understand?” Everyone agreed. “Good. The RFA is on hiatus until this is resolved, that much should be obvious. I do not want to hear about talks of parties or guests until we have our answers. **Complete** answers. We will do as much as we can without V and when he comes back we will have a meeting. **In person**.” Jumin sounded like he was getting angry. “Does everyone agree?” 

“Of course we do.” ZEN answered for the group. 

“Good. For now I believe we should hold another phone conference when all the files have been sent. I want all of you to copy your files and send them to me as well. We need everything no matter how insignificant you think it is. I want nothing left behind. We shall gather this information on Tuesday. Peak traffic is between 7am-9am, 11am-1pm and 3pm-6pm. I want everyone to take a body guard to their homes between those times and to be back in your safe zones before rush hours. Seeing as Sunday there are concerts and Monday is a holiday I do not want anyone going out. Tuesday is our optimal time. Zachary has already told me where all his files are, as I’ve said before, so he has already done half of his part.” He took a breath. “Zachary, please inform Luciel of this conversation. I do not want any of your _promises_ to interfere with our operation.” 

“Mm.” 

“Good. Do not hide anything from me…. from us.” He corrected himself. 

“Nn.” 

“Very well. Everyone has their agenda. I do not want us to lose sleep over these new hypotheses, but I suppose I will not be one to talk. We have much to mull over.” 

“No kidding.” ZEN sighed. “Tuesday… I can work with Tuesday.” 

“Tuesday can’t come fast enough.” Yoosung sighed. 

Jaehee clicked something on her phone. “I have marked it on the RFA calendar. We shall make use of our time before then. Please have everything sent to us by Tuesday midnight. I believe Wednesday will be our optimal time to have another meeting.” 

“Agreed. I shall try to get into contact with V. Should he not answer then, well it seems we shall have to prepare for that, but should he not answer we will conduct the meeting without him. Meanwhile I will have my team decode the papers. I will also send a team to once again canvas Sunflower.” 

“Sounds like a plan.” ZEN sighed. “I’m exhausted all of a sudden.” 

“Yes, there is much that weighs our minds. Alright, everyone prepare for Tuesday, this meeting has been concluded.” Without a goodbye, or perhaps that _was_ the goodbye, Jumin hung up followed by Jaehee. ZEN and Yoosung gave a half-hearted farewell and ended the call shortly after. 

Zack lowered the phone and closed his eyes. In all sense of reason Seven should still be a prime suspect. But for some reason Zack couldn’t even fathom that. Perhaps it was foolish. Perhaps Seven was two faced. Though, seeing him in such vulnerable states made Zack think otherwise. Or perhaps he was just naive. 

But 

Seven as the culprit behind all of this? 

Impossible. 

Right? 

** Saturday Morning: End **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! It's your resident, useless, ghost. Wazzup? I have nothing to say other than yipee. Also, in case you don't read the Jumin route, I'm back baby ghosts! 
> 
> You wanna talk to me and be severely disappointed by my lack of personality!? Well then hop on in to my discord GhostingSaysStuff !! Ahahaha I literally have nothing to talk about :P sounds tempting doesn't it? I bet it does! 
> 
> In all seriousness I'm getting excited for Seven's story. I have some tricks up my sleeve ohohohoho~ Lol watch it be lame but I like it cuz I think I'm very clever. Anywho diddley do dah day! I'm tired. Bye!


	4. Temporary Hiatus

Hey everyone, I'm sorry to do this again but I need to take a break and try to take care of myself.  I'm going to  work on the story and hopefully make it enjoyable and fun and dramatic :D that is when I can

Thanks for all the support!

~Ghosting 

Ps I'm putting this on the Jumin route too in case anyone follows both stories 


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